Improvement in water-closet hopper and seat



W. G. RHOADS. Water-Closet Hopper-and fleat.

No. 196,388. 'Patented Oct. 23,1877.

Wfdmiwwugs Chem Mid MW' A Home MPEIERS, FHDTQ-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D D WILLIAM G. RHOADS, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-CLOSET HOPPER AN D SEAT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 196,388, dated October 23, 1877 application filed September 7, 1877.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM G. RHOADS, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Water-Closet Hopper and Seat, which is fully described in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My improvement relates to water-closets constructed of an open-top hopper without valves or basin, and intended chiefly for use in hospitals, railway-cars, and other public places and my invention consists in a watercloset hopper which is made of porcelain or other earthenware, and is provided with a wide seat, formed in a single piece therewith, to inclose an extended opening, and yet present no sufficient foot-hold 011 the hopper for its improper use.

The object of my invention is to dispense with the independent seat and wood-work commonly used with an open-top hopper to avoid the presence of the ordinary joint between the seat and hopper; to prevent the use or abuse of the closet by standing instead of sitting thereon; and to furnish in one piece a perfectly neat, clean, compact watercloset, self-supporting on its own base, and in itself complete, without extra appendages other than the water-supply and soil pipes.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my improved hopper; Fig. 3, a top view thereof Fig. 2, a central vertical section in line w w of Fig. 3, and Fig. 4 a transverse section in line 3 y of Fig. 2.

The body A of thehoppermay be constructed of any desired form, either with a large waste-opening at the bottom, for use in railway-carriages, or in places where water cannot easily be supplied, or with a comparatively small waste-opening, B, and an arm, and fan or jet aperture, 0, at its upper end, for use in connection with a watersupply, or otherwise in such shape as will best adapt it for use wherever a water-closet is desired which shall be free from all independent exterior fittings.

The lower end of the hopper A is provided with the usual horizontal flange E, by means of which it is supported and secured in position.

The flange E is made in one piece with the body A, and of adequate dimensions to afford a suitable base by means of which-the hopper can be securely fastened in place.

The upper end or top G of the hopper is Y provided with lateral flanges 00 00, (see Fig. 3,)

which curve over inwardly and downwardly,

and are so fashioned and made of such width as to constitute a comfortable seat, and afford a firm, easy support to the person. These flanges are merged at front and rear intothe ordinary narrow, inwardly-projecting rim of the hopper, so as to leave the opening inclosed by the seat of an extended or ovate form. The rim of the top G is rounded, and the convexity and outward bevel of the front portion thereof is so far maintained before the rim is finally merged on either side into the flanges w m, which form the seat, as to render the natural point of support for the feet of a person attempting to use the hopper improperly, by standing thereon, insufficient and untenable.

My invention, therefore, accomplishes the twofold object of preventing the soiling of the seat by persons standing thereon, and of avoiding the offensive smells and effluvia ordinarily arising from accretions of impure matter in the wood-work of an independent seat, and in the crevices and recesses which are necessarily present where there are joints and seams in and about the hopper. Such joints scarcely ever remain permanently tight, and imavoidably serve to collect and retain deleterious matter, and the wood-work soon becomes so impregnated with the effluvia as to become in itself highly offensive.

H H are brackets which serve'to strengthen the connection of the hopper with its base.

I make my improved hopper, preferably, of porcelain, stone-china, or other earthenware; but it may be constructed of any suitable material which is an imperfect conductor of heat.

I disclaim as of my invention the formation of a seat upon an open-top hopper by pro- ;TNrrEn STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

viding its upper edge with a plain, flat rim of comfortable support for the person, and which uniform width, such as constitutes the seat of merge toward the front into a narrow rounded the ordinary chamber-pots in domestic use. l edge, to prevent a secure foot-hold thereon,

I claim as my inventionsubstantially as herein set forth. As a new article of manufacture, a seated V a W. G. RHOADS. dropper for Water-e1osets, having lateral in Witnesses: I

Wardly proj ecting' flanges w a9, formed in one JOSIAH T. ALLmsoN, piece with its upper edge, to aiford wide, THOMAS SAVILL. 

